Pain
by Brass Tacked
Summary: When a silly prank leaves Kel without a tent she is soon kidnapped by an unknown enemy along with Dom. While in the prison cell Dom does something he never imagined possible. Warnings: Rape, Character Deaths, & Suicide
1. alone in the rain

A/N: You may recognize this as the first chapter of another one of my fics _Of Ants and Love_, the reason for this is that when I sat down to write the second chapter to that one it started to go in a totally unexpected direction, as you will see when you read this next chapter, after rewriting a second chapter for that other fic, I still couldn't get this one out of my mind so I've decided to write this as well.

Disclaimer: I don't own Tortall or its residents.

**Alone in the Rain**

Stifling a laugh, Kel watched as the men of the Own fled from the vicinity of Raoul's tent. Somehow Dom couldn't seem to get away in time, mostly because the others kept shoving him back when he tried to escape, and thus was caught by the angered commander. Kel completely understood why her former knight master was mad. She would have been too if her tent had been filled with ants.

With a roar Raoul grabbed Dom's collar and started hauling him in Kel's direction. She tried to hide her smirk when Dom glared at her, but failed miserably. It was quickly wiped off when Raoul grabbed her and started dragging her off along with the sergeant.

Dom grinned over at her, but stopped when Raoul yanked on his shirt collar, temporarily cutting off the sergeant's air supply. The two were dragged away from camp and into a clearing. All in all it was a fairly pretty place, Kel thought. There was a trickling stream running through it and the sunlight danced across the water creating little rainbows. A soft breeze caressed the long grass which in turn gently embraced their legs. The birds softly sang from their perches in the trees. A fish jumped out of the water and the resulting splash only added to the tranquility instead of interrupting it.

The peace was over when Raoul released the two and rounded on them. Looking the two in the eyes, his own snapping with fury, Keladry gulped. She'd never seen Raoul this angry. Of course there was no reason for him to be mad at her, she hadn't been a part of the hair brained scheme. "Sir, I sympathize with your situation, I really do, but I don't understand why I'm here. I had nothing to with this childish prank."

Raoul looked strait at her with a mischievous glint in his eyes and she knew she had just trapped herself. "Lady Knight, could you please remind me just why you have been assigned to Third Company?"

With a strong swallow she knew her fate was sealed, there was no escaping this. So with a smooth face and an unwavering voice she quoted King Jonathan, "'Because Third Company is filled with a bunch of immature brats who hardly ever act their age or with consideration to how their actions will affect the way the citizens of the country view the government. Although they are some of the best soldiers during a battle, during their free time and when they are traveling, they act out and Lord Raoul has proven to be unable to control them, in fact he seems to encourage them.' That is why the King assigned me to Third Company, to keep them inline when they are not participating in a battle."

"Very good Kel, that was an excellent rendition of the King's words, you even captured his tone perfectly. Now, tell me how allowing the men to _fill my tent with ants_ is following the King's orders to keep the men in line?"

Just then a single ant crawled off of Raoul's shirt, up his neck, and onto his nose. Although he didn't seem to notice it, Dom did and Kel knew that he was about to do something stupid. She gave him a warning look, which he promptly ignored. "My Lord, it seems you have something on you nose. I wonder what it could be? I'll give you a hint, its small and can carry twice its weight."

Uttering a growl Raoul flicked the offending creature off his face. "Lady Knight, as your commanding officer I am demanding the use of your tent until you discover a way to rid mine of the ants or we come upon a supply post where you can buy me a new tent. Until then you need to find a new place to sleep for the night."

With that he walked away, leaving a glaring Kel and a slightly guilty looking Dom behind.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/

Laying in her bedroll, spread across the grass next to the brook in the clearing from earlier, Kel watched as clouds rolled across the night sky. The air had a definite nip to it and she prayed it wouldn't rain during the night. It was soon after that when she felt the first big drop land on her face.

As the rain grew in intensity she started contemplating punishments for a certain blue eyed man. Her musings were interrupted when a twig snapped nearby. Hopping to her feet, she had her glaive at the ready in a second. Although the entire Third Company was just a few yards away she suddenly felt very alone and slightly vulnerable.


	2. despair

A/N: Here's where things get different.

Disclaimer: Tortall, the surrounding countries, and the characters do not belong to me.

**Chapter 2: Despair**

"Easy Lady Knight, if you don't fight we won't have to kill this silly sergeant." Dom watched as Kel lowered her glaive and cursed himself for his foolishness. If he had never thought to put ants in Raoul's tent none of this would be happening. He watched hopelessly when one of the masked strangers tied Kel's hands together behind her back and then cried out when another of the men clouted her in the back of the head.

The man with the blunt instrument then began approaching Dom. He focused his eyes on Kel, his beautiful Kel, hoping against hope that this wouldn't be the last time he saw her. There was a painful explosion in his head and then he knew no more.

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

He woke up to find himself untied, but securely locked up in a prison cell. When he took a look around he saw a large, human shaped heap in a corner and crawled closer to investigate. With horror he saw that it was a battered and beaten Kel and she was crying silent tears.

He reached out to try and comfort her, but she violently jerked out of his reach then spat at him, "Stay away from me!"

Bringing his hand back close to his body, he stared at her in shock. Why had she reacted to him in such a way? Did she blame him for her capture (he would agree with her if she did) and thus couldn't stand the sight of him, let alone his touch?

Even if that was the case, they were in this together. In order to survive they needed each other. They would need the other's strength and companionship to make it through the coming days. He had to do something to broach the gulf between them. "Kel, I'm sorry. If it wasn't for me we wouldn't be here, I know, but please just talk to me, look at me, do something!"

He sat there and waited for her to respond. When she finally did, he couldn't help but wish she hadn't. All she did was turn her head and look at him, but what he saw in her eyes smote him. They were not Kel's normal dreamy hazel eyes, these ones were filled with despair and pain. There was a hopelessness there that proclaimed her wish to die. They also told him what had happened to her while he had been unconscious.

Anger rolled through him. How dare they do this to her! How dare they harm his Kel! He saw read and the only thing he wished to do at the moment was kill the one's that had done this. He also began to feel guilt, he had been right there and had failed to protect her.

They sat there in silence, not noticing the passage of. The few times Dom had tried to talk to her, Kel had shown no signs of hearing him. It broke his heart to see her like this and to know that it was his fault.

Fear gripped his heart when he heard a key in the lock and the click of a handle being turned. He watched as three men entered the small cell. When the one in front looked over and saw that Dom was awake he grinned with unparalleled mirth. "Oh look, the little sergeant had decided to wake up and now wants to watch us have our fun. Rasgar, Lendarf secure him and make sure he sees all of this."

Dom was helpless and unable to stop the two men from taking hold of him. One grabbed his hair viciously and forced him to watch as the leader of the three slapped and kicked at Kel. Knowing what was coming, Dom fought against his captors with all of his strength.

He couldn't let this happen, not to her and not with him less than three feet away. It was useless though, no matter how much he struggled, he couldn't get loose. He continues to fight though, as he watched the man undo the flap of his breeches and force himself on Kel. Although she didn't cry out once, Dom did, numerous times.

It got worse after that; each of the men raped her over and over. When they were finished with that, they began beating on her. Punching and kicking her tender flesh. When the three men finally left she looked at him with a tearstained face and dead eyes.

"Oh gods, Kel. I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." Dom reached out and gathered her in his arms. Her hot tears soaked his shirt and broke his heart.

They sat like that for several hours, Dom wasn't sure how many. When Kel finally pulled a little away she looked at him again with those bleak eyes and whispered the words that he knew were coming. "I just want to die."

Reaching down Dom carefully grasped her lips with hers and they exchanged a soul wrenching kiss. The passion that he felt for this woman crashed over her and the kiss increased into a heated, passionate exchange that neither want to end. The kiss started evolving into something more. Dom didn't stop to think about what they were doing.

As she climaxed he gently wrapped his hands around her neck and stopped her breath from flowing. Tears leaked out of his eyes as Kel's soul left her body. He could feel when the Black God came for her. He released her delicate neck and pulled her body to him. "I love you Kel. Great Mother Goddess, how I love you."

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

A/N: I know that was horrible. I think there's only going to be one more chapter to this. Please review!

Wind to thy wings!


	3. peace at last

A/N: This is the last chapter so please enjoy.

Disclaimer: Tortall and its residents do not belong to me, they belong to Tamora pierce.

**Chapter 3: Peace at Last**

They had found him there, holding her body and weeping. Everyone assumed that the captors had killed her, no one would ever believe that it had been him. On the road back to Corus he was carefully watched, food was forced on him. Once they had reached the capitol he was put in Neal's care. Everybody figured that if anything went wrong the young knight would be able to handle it not only because of his status in the realm, but also because he was a healer and Dom's cousin.

Neal was grieving too, he had lost his best friend and no one could find a good answer as to why. They couldn't seem to discover why she had been kidnapped or by who. There were no answers and that was infuriating everyone except Dom who was too wrapped up in his grief to notice anything. He didn't regret his actions though. He did what he knew was right, if he had allowed Kel to continue living a broken life he knew that she would have killed herself anyway. At least the way the events played out allowed her a moment of joy before the end, instead of the endless despair she would have lived with instead.

He could tell that the others were becoming irritated with his silence. He hadn't uttered a single word since he had been found. Neal was always watching him, most of the time with a curious looking in his eye, something that resembled pity.

He knew what was coming when Neal approached him that night. The time for the truth was here and there was no way he would be able to avoid it. He was actually relieved that the time was here because that meant he was that much closer to the end. So instead of waiting for Neal to ask the first question he started the conversation. "You want to know what happened, how it is that Kel died and I survived right?"

Neal was taken aback by Dom's forwardness and decision to speak. He had initially thought that he was going to have to fight, possibly even have to force his cousin to give him answers, but it appeared that instead Dom was going to just tell him. Who was he to look a gift horse in the mouth, he wanted those answers, wanted them desperately so he could get revenge on whoever was responsible. "Please, Dom, tell me what happened."

He could see Dom pull himself together; prepare himself for the ordeal of relinquishing his knowledge. "It was me Neal, I'm the one who killed her." Neal was too shocked to respond so Dom just continued, "They were raping her and beating her and she was, she was broken. She told me that she wanted to die. And the tears, they just kept coming. I just loved her so much. I loved her so I had to kill her, I had to release her from the hell that she was going through."

Neal just sat there, he didn't know how to react to the statements his cousin had just made. He registered that Dom had gotten up and he knew what the man was going to do, but didn't move to stop him. He understood why.

Dom didn't know where he was going, but he understood what he was going to do. It wasn't much of a shock to find himself at the top of Balor's Needle. The sun was setting on the horizon, turning the sky brilliant shades of pink, red, and orange. Purple was creeping into it as well. He didn't spend much time contemplating the sight, but he did think it oddly right. The sun was setting on an old day just like he was leaving his old life.

He didn't even look over the edge before he stepped off. His mind was consumed with thought of Kel and then she was there, standing in front of him. She reached out and took his hand. He looked into her eyes and saw that they were no longer dead, they were alive and beautiful. They were also filled with love and understanding.

Together they walked back to the Realm of the Dead holding hands and sharing hearts.

_Fin_

0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0/0

A/N: I couldn't bring myself to end it without at least a little happiness. I hope you liked my little story. Please review and tell me your thoughts. All reviews are much appreciated.

Wind to thy Wings!


End file.
